Carnegie Mellon University has announced an ambitious plan to build a 35-acre campus in Wynwood—an initiative financed with a $2 billion donation from Kenneth Griffin, a multi-billionaire developer and CEO of Citadel.
According to ALP.X Group, the company co-developing the project, the new Miami campus will mainly focus on research on societal challenges, health, national security and climate and host more than 3,500 students, 300 faculty members and 600 staff.
It will be built over the crux of Miami’s art and entertainment hub, Mana Wynwood Convention Center, which hosts III Points, a yearly music festival that highlights Miami’s underground music scene.
The festival brings huge economic growth to Miami, directly supporting local street and digital artists through a Miami Art Society grant program. It brought more than $36 million to the community in Miami, according to the Miami New Times.
III Points is one of many spaces where locals thrive that could be affected by this new development.
Beginning with spontaneous artist walks in the early 2000s, Wynwood has long nurtured Miami’s arts scene with many signature spots like the street art expo Wynwood Walls, Museum of Graffiti, Wynwood Marketplace, nightlife spaces and restaurants—all of which attract millions of tourists every year.
The famous arts district has already been struggling as overdevelopment has been pushing out local businesses.
Out of the 70 galleries and museums that were once based here, only 15 remain as of 2021, according to a Miami New Times article.
With this new CMU campus, it’s valid to ask: What will happen to the arts in Wynwood?
Bringing CMU to Wynwood is not an isolated project, but a piece of a much bigger idea.
According to a Miami Herald story, the campus’ investor is focusing primarily on universities since “they can attract researchers, generate patents and startups, draw venture capital and give major companies a reason to locate nearby. And more important, they can create a talent pipeline that makes it easier for companies already here to grow.”
The initiative will bring new business and investors at the expense of potentially pushing out the current ones and reshaping Wynwood’s creative identity into a finance and business hub.
This isn’t about opposing Carnegie Mellon University as an institution or educational centre. It is about understanding that new developments in Miami should prioritize the best interest of the people who already live here.
Development shouldn’t come at the expense of affordable housing, local businesses, cultural centers or eroding the history of an established neighborhood.
Miami’s future should not require erasing the past. Wynwood deserves to grow without being displaced.
